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Appalachian Trail heads to Morocco

American and Canadian hiking enthusiasts want to expand the International Appalachian Trail overseas. Next possible stop: Morocco

Caribou gather near the Devil's Bite trail on the International Appalachian Trail in Newfoundland and Labrador. (WALTER ANDERSON / AP)

By Debra BlackStaff Reporter

Fri., July 23, 2010

American and Canadian hiking enthusiasts are planning to expand the International Appalachian Trail — which runs almost 3,000 km from Maine to Quebec, the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland — overseas.

The popular hiking trail, which was created in 1994, could soon have branches in Morocco, Portugal or even Spain.

At least that’s the plan says Dick Anderson, one of the creators of the trail, and a member of the volunteer society that oversees it.

But what do Morocco, Portugal and Spain have in common with the much beloved Appalachian Trail and its offshoot the International Appalachian Trail?

All three countries have mountain ranges that were once part of the original Appalachian range that was formed some 300 million years ago in the Paleozoic Era when colliding continental plates created a range of craggy mountains that ran across what is now North America, Europe and Africa, Anderson said.

When that same land mass, known as Pangaea, shattered apart about 200 million years ago, the mountain range separated as well.

Anderson, who makes his home in Maine, originally wanted to create an international trail that would not only cross the world’s boundaries but also pay homage to the existence of the prehistoric mountains and their modern day majesty.

“We wanted to get people to think beyond borders,” explains Anderson. “To get citizens to work together on a pretty big, but relatively benign, international project and use the mountains as a way to get people to think about their place on the Earth and how they’re connected. In this case they’re connected by the Appalachian mountains.”

The modern day mountains run parallel to the east coast of North American for about 4,000 km. They are one of the oldest mountain systems in North America, with dense forests and rock structures that date back to Precambrian and early Paleozoic eras.

The international trail — an offshoot of the more well-known Appalachian trail, which runs from to Maine’s Mount Katahdin to Georgia — was the vision of Anderson and a former governor of Maine, Joe Brennan, in 1994.

Since then, the International Appalachian Trail has grown and flourished, much like its parent, blossoming trails that run through some of the most beautiful countryside in both the U.S. and Canada, from Maine to Mount Jacques Cartier in Quebec to Belle Island in Newfoundland with stops in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

On this side of the Atlantic, the trail officially ends at Crow Head, Nfld., near L’anse aux Meadows in the northwest tip of the province.

But the trail has just made its first foray overseas: Greenland and West Highland, Scotland, have both signed up as partners. Both countries have mountain ranges that were also part of the original Appalachian mountain range in Pangaea; both have hiking trails along the mountains.

Next up is Morocco and its Atlas Mountains, once part of the Appalachian range. Officials from the International Appalachian Trail Society are going over to talk to officials there this fall.

In total, 89 people have hiked the entire trail from Mount Katahdin to Cape Gaspé, Que., with another 14 hiking from Maine to Crow Head.

Thousands hike bits and pieces of it.

Some walk solo, others with friends. But they are all bound by a common love of the wilderness.

The International Appalachian Trail has tried to stay true to this vision, said Anderson, who hopes other countries that have pieces of the mountain range — such as the Shetland Islands in Scotland and the southern tip of Norway — will soon come on board.

For many it is “the personal challenge” that lures them to the international trail, said Denis Dunne, the P.E.I. representative for the International Appalachian Society

Only recently an American Lucy Leaf successfully hiked the trail in PEI, becoming the first person or “through-hiker” to ever complete the whole trail in that province, reported Dunne.

As for Anderson, the 75-year-old says his days of long cross country hikes are over. In fact, he admits, he has never cared for hem. He prefers short jaunts.

“You have to have the right mindset to do it. I find it so difficult. I have too many things to do. I couldn’t possibly walk across the country for a month or two. But some people love it.”

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